A Fading Practice | Sina “Witness”
Zhao Diao—Sina
As land in China becomes more expensive, the bereaved are increasingly choosing cremation and other alternatives like sea burials to honor their dead. While still practiced in some parts of rural China, traditional funerals involving long, elaborate rituals and tomb burials are disappearing. Photographer Zhao Diao returned to his hometown in Shanxi, northern China, to document the funeral rituals that have persisted there for centuries. “Gone with it are not only the simple customs but also the social order and philosophy that have persisted in rural China for thousands of years, as well as the virtue of filial piety passed down from generation to generation,” writes Zhao.
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As land in China becomes more expensive, the bereaved are increasingly choosing cremation and other alternatives like sea burials to honor their dead. While still practiced in some parts of rural China, traditional funerals involving long, elaborate rituals and tomb burials are disappearing. Photographer Zhao Diao returned to his hometown in Shanxi, northern China, to document the funeral rituals that have persisted there for centuries. “Gone with it are not only the simple customs but also the social order and philosophy that have persisted in rural China for thousands of years, as well as the virtue of filial piety passed down from generation to generation,” writes Zhao.